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I have found the best way to buy a pair of rams is at the same time. I find a shop with lots in and study them for a while. I would buy a pair that is already formed. It's much better that way. Saw a pair just last week-end, busily guarding a spot on a piece of bogwood in a heavily stocked lfs. Was tempted, but think if I buy rams I will get Bolivian as my water parameters suck for the Blue german rams.

Well I spotted a pair at the LFS, said I'd grab them, but how the heck do you tell which ones are the pair when there is 30 rams in the tank, and by the looks only 1 male, when as soon as you put the net in the lose all colour and dart around the tank like mad things! LOL, I think the poor guy spent about 20 minutes with me going, "no it's that one in the conrner, then he'd get it in the net and then I'd see blue dots on the black dot and go, "um no I don't think that's it" so he'd wait for them to colour up again and and then chase them around again and then I'd say "no that's not it"
He was telling me that the one I thought was a male wasn't because it didn't have black on it's plevic fins. I told him I thought it was the females who had the black but he said I was wrong, he also said that the pink on the bellies doesn't mean they aren't male either!!! He also said that they were harem breeders and they do best if the male has 6 or 7 females. Said he's bred them for years and that's always worked best. Hmmmm. Think I'll stick with my 1 pair when I find them!

So in the end I gave up. Will have to keep my eye out for a tank with just a pair left! LOL

Wait until there aren't as many left in the tank and the pairs will become more obvious and the fish easier to keep track of. Also, with less fish in the tank, they will be more colored and easier to sex. Pickout the dominant male in the tank and his female(s).

I highly doubt there was only one male in the tank. The males have black on the pelvic fins and both fish can have a pinkish belly. The guy was right. The females belly gets much pinker during breeding.

So after 20 minutes of telling the guy no thats the wrong fish you left empty handed?

I did leave empty handed , it was right on closing time, and they don't let you take any fish back, so I wanted to make sure I got the one I wanted. I will go back and get one though.

Hmmm. It was Jess's post as the start of this thread that said that the males didn't have the black on the fins, and since this fish only had faint black on the plevic fins and I couldn't see any of the sparkly blue bits inside the black dot and no pink belly that's what made me think he was a he! LOL.

The rest of them all had sparkly blue in their black dots. I will go back though, study the tank a bit more (get there well before closing time!) and I won't walk away empty handed a second time

Oh youre right, I got confused. When the fish's colors are flushed the males can have blue spots in the blotch, too. Those pics are of adults in breeding color I believe; they certainly are much more difficult to tell at the store.

I have a very happy German Blue in my aquarium but I would like to find a mate for it. I have looked at the sexing tips but a can find traits that are listed for both male and female. The second ray on the dorsal fin is definitively longer and the posterior dorsal fin is more pointed, but the ventral fins have dark gray/black on them and the black dots on the side have the blue sheene on them, that is, when he/she is not irritated with us. Are the any absolutes to IDing them? Please help...

well i had a pair pair up and breed, had 3 and one ended up dying early. The two that lived were male and female and paired up and raised a batch to free swimming but lost them. soon after the female died :( had them for about 8 months. This isn't going to help sex them but it IS some info you might want to consider. Not all GBR's are all the same. some share traits of both male and female and can be eather and some markings change or develope with age.

I got 5 more new ones and some i have also don't have traits commonly seen in any GBR pics I've seen. My original male for instance when i first got him was well colored up, had a bright pink belly, and no tall second dorsal fin. As he aged he lost ALL signs of his purple belly after about 2-3 months. A few weeks before he spawned for the first time he actually grew his dorsal fin out by about 25% and his second spike grew so much in size it's about an 1/2 longer than the rest and flows down over most of his dorsal fin! his Caudal fins got long and flowing and he has VERY black strips on them that are wide( the black strip is about 1/3 of his fin area). He also has a 3rd dominant black spot/stripe. The second black spiked dorsal fin turns into a stripe that runs halfway down his back between the big black spot and his eye stripe. finally he has a round black spot on his forehead. Those are black markings i don't see too often on rams in general. I also have a new female that never really developed much color and hardly any markings. Her fins are all clear, she has no eye stripe nor black spot but has blue speckles sporadically on her body. she has dull faded tiger stripes going down the hole length of her side. i would say she is a juvenile but shes 2 inches. She could be a hybrid or have recessive color genes. I bought her cause i figured nobody would with her low color, and she looks destincly different than other rams so i like her cause she's distinct and probably also cause shes not juiced up with hormones.

In summery if you own enough rams you can start to pick up that markings are hard to go by alone to choose sex-as they differ from fish to fish. I would say the best bet is to pick up about 6. this will guarantee you get a male and female and they can select there own mates. also everyone should be aware that rams are commonly juiced up and are well known for spontaneously dying even with low ph and numerous water changes. by securing around 6 it will guarantee a pair and, hopefully 2, and even WHEN some die you will still have at least one pair that can successfully rear fry. These parents are usually the strongest/healthiest fish and will have hardier fry. I've noticed that locally bred GBR have a LOT higher mortality rate than store bought.